How Do I uninstall a program?

Is the iMac running OS 9 or OS X? Which program are you uninstalling? In a way, it doesn't matter. Here is how it usually works:

Find the icon for the program in question. Drag the icon into the Trash can. Empty the trash.

Your program has been uninstalled.
 
Unless the application was installed using some sort of installer, then you can drag the application to the Trash and then empty it and that should do it. Best is to check the documentation for the application you want to uninstall.
 
Another way in 10.4 and 10.5 is I use the spotlight and also remove the pref files but agree on the lazy way AppDelete or CleanApp or AppZapper.
 
I would agree Satcomer. I have found that simply dragging the application to the trash bin does not always delete everything. In order to keep your Mac clutter free, I highly recommend using AppCleaner (available free of charge at http://www.freemacsoft.net/AppCleaner). It deletes the files and folders associated with your application, keeping your system clean. In addition, it comes with a feature (disabled by default) that will offer to delete the app entirely when you move it to the trash can. I believe that AppCleaner deletes everything related to the program, but checking with Spotlight like jlw92 suggested is a good idea.
 
I've used AppZapper, but I've noticed that it doesn't get everything. So I delete the program in the Application folder then look in my Library and look in the Application support folder to see if the Application made one, and then delete it. Then I go in my Library and then into Preferences folder and delete the files that the Application made, and then I do the same thing in the main Library folder.
 
EasyFind...
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/11076/easyfind
will search for, find, and allow you to delete all traces of Any App, even most that were installed by their own install routine, which by the way also leave traces behind.
It locates even those files that your so-called App delete utilities will leave behind.
If you really want to keep things neat and tidy, try it, it just works.
And in case you are wondering, NO, I have no association to this app other then a very happy user.

jb.
 
EasyFind is an alternative to Spotlight and from what I've seen around the traps, it works much better in finding files, too ;)
 
JeremyBuff said:
I would agree Satcomer. I have found that simply dragging the application to the trash bin does not always delete everything. In order to keep your Mac clutter free, I highly recommend using AppCleaner (available free of charge at http://www.freemacsoft.net/AppCleaner). It deletes the files and folders associated with your application, keeping your system clean. In addition, it comes with a feature (disabled by default) that will offer to delete the app entirely when you move it to the trash can. I believe that AppCleaner deletes everything related to the program, but checking with Spotlight like jlw92 suggested is a good idea.

JeremyBuff. Many thanks from a new switcher, I would like to keep my new iMac as sweet as a daisy!. macabee
Click to expand...
 
As mentioned in my earlier post, "EasyFind" will locate the files that AppDelete and even OS X Spotlight leave behind, and will allow you to delete them, hence maintaining an even cleaner system.

jb
 
I third EasyFind. It even finds files by parts of filenames, something Mac OS X forgot with Spotlight. (You know: Looking for "pple" won't find "com.apple.anything.plist" in Spotlight, which is a bug –*or a feature, if you're Apple. I don't understand why this bug's been around for more than two years. Or is it three already since 10.4's been out?)
 
hey guys i want to dual boot both the mac and also windows in my laptop. can i know what stops me to do that. i have tried to install leopord but i was not successful. it is not booting up so what should i do for this
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On the contrary, dragging most applications to the trash does succeed in getting rid of the entire application.

Of course, there may be a left-behind preference file that amounts to a few hundred kilobytes of data, and an "Application Support" folder that may amount to a few megabytes of data. Neither of these can actually interfere with anything, though, now that the application itself has been trashed. A rogue preference file from a deleted application cannot cause problems with any other applications or the system itself, as the preference file is only ever "read" by the system when the application (which has been deleted now) is launched. The same goes for the leftovers in the "Application Support" folder.

Of course, some applications install more things in other places -- for example, the mySQL database application among others.

I'm not dissuading anyone from using AppZapper or AppCleaner or any of the application-removal programs -- I'm just saying that as troubleshooting measures for instabilities unrelated to the application, they're useless, as the "leftovers" from deleting an application cannot interfere with any other application or the system itself.

Application removal programs are a boon to those who want to keep their system tidy and squeaky-clean, but absolutely no harm comes from leaving preference files and Application Support folders behind, and they take up miniscule amounts of space on your hard drive (much like haggling over a few grains of unnoticeable sand on a huge sand castle). They will not degrade the performance of your computer nor will your computer magically "speed up" when they're gone. They use no memory and are not "active" unless you reinstall the deleted application and run it again.

But, of course, some companies refuse to follow Apple's guidelines -- such as Adobe, who supplies their own uninstaller program, and run-time applications like mySQL that put hooks into the underlying UNIX core of Mac OS X. The majority of programs out there, though, do NOT do these things, and consist of only 3 or 4 parts:

1) The application itself
2) A small preference file, usually located in ~/Library/Preferences
3) Possibly an "Application Support" folder, containing support files for the application
4) A folder or data files in your home directory (DiVX puts a "DiVX movies" folder in your Movies folder).

(2), (3) and (4) amount to about a megabyte of space. (1) amounts to however large the application bundle is. (2), (3) and (4) cannot cause interference with anything other than the original application itself.
 
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